Watching the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks battle it out in the Stanley Cup playoffs reminded me of the creation of Wayne Gretzky’s official retirement portrait by Ken Danby over a decade ago. Titled “The Great Farewell”, it showed a pose of Gretzky set against a night sky background.

Shortly after the official unveiling we received The Great Farewell Book in the mail. The book contained the story behind the official Gretzky retirement portrait. It turned out that Ken used Starry Night to help him paint a background sky that represented Wayne Gretzky’s final moments on the ice at Madison Square Garden! We thought that was really cool. It’s always a delight to learn of the interesting ways our software is being used. Maybe you have your own creative uses you’d like to share with us?

Here is an excerpt from Wayne Gretzky:

“… the background was totally unexpected. I have always been fascinated with numbers and their significance in my career. Ken knew this and combined my fascination with his own interest in astronomy. When he explained the significance of the sky – that it represented the exact time of my final moments on the ice at Madison Square Garden, and that it would never appear like that again – I was astonished.”